


Me and God—We Don't Get Along

by LavernaG



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Asylum, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Genre: Asylum, Briarcliff, Elsa & Massimo, F/M, Happy Ending, LIFE Magazine, Wooden Legs, snuff film
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 06:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavernaG/pseuds/LavernaG
Summary: This is an Asylum/Freak Show crossover, taking place in 1963. Pepper misses her one and only mother. Sister Jude finds out something about Dr. Arden that she hadn't been bargaining for. Elsa Mars didn't die in 1960.





	1. Snuff Films

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover between Asylum and Freak Show, taking place in 1963. Pepper misses her one and only mother. Sister Jude finds out something about Dr. Arden that she hadn't been bargaining for. Elsa Mars didn't die in 1960. In fact, everything we know of Elsa's life in 1960 didn't happen. She still has her career, she's married to her cheating husband, Michael, and she hasn't meet Massimo after Jupiter, Florida.
> 
> Asylum was my favourite season, until I saw Freak Show. Now I'm not sure which is my favourite. But as you can imagine, I was over the moon to find the connections between the two seasons. I guessed the identity of Elsa's torturer before Massimo said the name. And I guessed right!
> 
> I hope you will enjoy this story of mine, and please leave a review if you do. :)

She had to find it. They tried to hold her back, but she had to find it.

There was always so much dust around here, now the smell of burnt paper struck her nose. Books and magazines were scattered all across the floor and the bookshelves. The desk had been thrown over. She searched the piles of papers, desperately seeking for her treasure. She threw old books at the guards when they tried to approach her.

When they finally managed to take hold of her arms and pull her away from the books, she began to struggle more fiercely than she ever had. There was no escape from punishment now that she had ran off and thrown those books at the guards. But she couldn't leave just yet. They would clean out this room and she would never see it again.

She pressed her hand against her cheek and calmed, the guards pulled her to the door. And that's when she saw it. That little red and white "Life". She cried out in victory. She must have taken the guards by surprise, because they loosened their grip momentarily. And when they did, she lunged forward. Pulling the magazine out from under a large pile of ruined old books, she hugged it tight. She sat down on the floor and pressed her hand against her cheek again. She could almost feel her with her again, and she smiled.

-

She locked her office door and glanced down at the old film tape in her hands. "The Lucky One, 1932," the label on it read. She set it down on her desk and walked into her room where she kept the movie projector she'd borrowed to show the inmates some pictures to keep them occupied in the evenings. Truth be told, she would have loved to see a talkie instead of those old silent pictures, but that was all they could afford at the moment.

Sister Jude set up the machine, thinking bitterly about her latest sin. "Thou shalt not steal," repeated itself in her mind over and over again. She hadn't enjoyed poking around Dr. Arden's office, but there was something so terribly off about him that Jude just couldn't leave it be. She'd muttered a prayer, entering the doctor's quarters. The eeriness of the place always gave her a bad feeling in her stomach.

Jude brought the film tape into her bedroom where she placed it in the projector. Of all the things she could have chosen from Dr. Arden's office to investigate, her intuition had told her that there was something really important about this old movie. It was the only one she could find amongst his large collection of books.

For some reason, she hesitated a moment before turning the projector on. The film's name should have been a comfort, but it wasn't, not to Sister Jude anyway. The projector cast a light onto the wall opposite of Sister Jude's bed, and the nun sat down to watch.

A beautiful blonde woman appeared on the screen, leaning towards the camera. Jude had thought she'd been beautiful when she was young, but anything she had been could not be compared to this young lady. Her puppy eyes, her full lips, and her perfect face. Jude was quickly distracted by the realization that the woman was sitting on an old bed.

"Nazi blue movies," Sister Jude muttered with disgust, readying herself to switch the projector off if it got too far. A man handed the woman on the screen a drink and she downed it without a thought. Jude had to admit she was a wonderful actress. If she hadn't known better, she'd have thought the woman really was drunk.

The blonde dropped back onto the pillows and said something to someone behind the camera. Jude saw the fear and confusion in the woman's eyes, and an uneasy feeling crept inside of her. The next moment two men on both sides of the blonde took her hands, and Jude noticed for the first time the straps on the bed-frame. The blonde's arms were fastened up without much resistance from the woman. She didn't look so well now. She looked up at the camera-man again, and Jude silently gasped at the feelings she could see in the star's face. There was something horrible about this movie, and although Jude couldn't quite decide what it was yet, it frightened her to no end.

For a moment the woman on the screen looked up at the men surrounding the bed. Jude could see how powerless and frightened she was, and in a terrifying instant she realized this wasn't a scripted piece of film art—this was real. The nun let out a strangled cry of terror when a man on the screen started a chainsaw. Her reaction was met with a tenfold worse one from the woman strapped to the bed. Thank God this wasn't a talkie!

Sister Jude watched, petrified, as the men sawed off the woman's legs one by one, taking their time with the second one. She'd heard of snuff movies but she'd never given them a second thought, or, Heaven forbid, seen one. It was horrible to say the least. She clutched her rosary beads in her hand, unable to look away from the awful picture on the screen.

The woman on the bed struggled and screamed until she ran out of energy and shock took over. Smeared with her own blood, she cried endless tears as the monsters around her packed their things and turned to leave. A tall man bent over the woman, taking hold of her jaw with his hand and telling her something. Then he turned and followed the others. That was the end of the film, the picture of the tortured woman stayed on the screen.

It took Jude a full two minutes to recover, to steady her breathing and feel the dizziness leave her. She never forgot a face. And she never forgot a man's hand when it had touched her. The man had involuntarily shown his face to the camera when he'd left. Jude had been obliged to shake Dr. Arden's hand when they'd met. "Godawful monster," she growled, thinking back to the five missing patients she'd been worrying about these last few months.

To be continued...


	2. Life Magazine

It wasn't often that Sister Mary Eunice had to knock on Sister Jude's office door. It wasn't often the latter kept it locked. "Sister Jude?" the young nun called. "There's a matter that needs handling. I believe this patient needs to be punished. Although I hope you won't be too hard on her."

The older woman opened the door, her expression gloomy. "I'm not in the mood to punish anyone," she stated but let the younger nun inside. She was followed by their local pinhead. "What's this about?"

"Well, Sister Jude," Sister Mary Eunice began to explain. "There was a small fire in the second floor west wing last night. But I don't have to tell you about that, you were there!" She shook her head at her own forgetfulness. "When Pepper heard, she went wild. She ran off and we found her in one of the rooms she'd helped me clean out a few months ago. The guards tried to take her back to the common room but she resisted. That is, until she found what she'd been looking for. Once she had, she looked so happy that I didn't even need the guards to help me take her here. Now, I know she needs to be punished, but please be kind to her. You will, won't you, Sister?"

Jude had been watching the pinhead. She was hugging a copy of "Life" magazine to her chest, a hand pressed against her cheek. She looked happier than Jude had ever seen her. The nun looked up at the young woman when she realized she'd stopped talking.

"She's been there to see this cover photo almost every day," Mary Eunice said, gesturing towards the magazine in Pepper's embrace. "It always makes her so happy and calm. Are you alright, Sister Jude?"

Jude looked at her in confusion. "Sure. Why do ya ask?"

"It's just that you're so pale," Mary Eunice replied. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

Jude's eyes darted to the door of her bedroom and back to the young nun's face. "I am feeling slightly light-headed," she admitted. "It must be because I missed breakfast today. It's nothing serious. Don't ya worry, Sister," Jude told her and walked the young woman to the door. "I won't cane Pepper. We both know she's a good girl. Now, go on, I'll take it from here." The trusting smile the young nun sent her made her feel warm inside.

Once she closed the door after Sister Mary Eunice, Jude returned to Pepper's side. "Pepper," she said, looking into the pinhead's blissful face. She didn't hear her. "Pepper!" Jude tried again, and this time her patient looked up at her innocently.

"Show me what ya've got there," the nun asked, extending her hand toward Pepper. But the latter pulled away, hugging the magazine protectively. "I just want to look at it, dear," Jude assured her kindly. "Ya will have it back. I promise."

Slowly and hesitantly the pinhead handed over her precious magazine, dropping into the chair next to Jude's desk once she'd given up her treasure. "Thank ya," Jude told her and then looked down at the cover photo. And her heart skipped a beat.

There was a black-and-white portrait of a glorious woman—the model of beauty—who surprisingly gave Jude a feeling like she was looking into a mirror. But that wasn't what made Sister Jude's jaw drop. This was The Woman! It was the woman Jude had just seen in Dr. Arden's old snuff film! There could be no mistake, she looked exactly the same. And yet it couldn't be her, the amputation must have killed the young woman.

Jude unconsciously walked around her desk and sat down on her chair. This was too much to take in at the moment. Jude decided to watch the beginning of the movie again later, she had to be mistaken. It couldn't be the same woman. Or could it? And what did Pepper have to do with it?

Jude looked up at the pinhead. Pepper was awaiting anxiously for her reaction. She must have known she was going to be punished for running off. But after what she'd seen, Jude didn't think she could hurt anyone today.

"Don't worry, I won't punish ya," she told her patient. She thought she saw a spark of relief in Pepper's eyes. "But I'm going to keep this." She set the magazine on the desk.

Carefully, Pepper reached out and touched the cover. "Elsa," she said, looking up at the nun.

Jude was surprised to hear her talk and even more surprised that she knew the cover-lady's name. "Elsa Mars" was printed on the magazine, but Pepper couldn't read. "Yes, that's Elsa Mars," Jude said, watching the pinhead closely. "Who told ya her name?"

"Elsa," replied Pepper again.

Jude sighed. It was too much to hope she'd tell her anything else. Sister Mary Eunice had probably told her what was written on the cover. Jude gently removed Pepper's hand from the magazine, and let go of her hand when the pinhead let out a small cry. Jude thought she'd never understand what was going on inside that head of Pepper's, but then again, she was a mental patient.

"Ya will have it back," Jude promised upon seeing the loss and sadness on Pepper's face.

-

"Sister." Jude called Sister Mary Eunice after breakfast the next day.

"Yes, Sister Jude?" The young woman smiled her bright and innocent smile. But before Jude could say anything else, Mary Eunice already cut in. "You look better today. It's a miracle what a good breakfast can do, isn't it? I've seen Pepper, she'd devastated. What did you do to her? Well, it's not really my place to know, but I thought-"

"I didn't punish her," Jude interrupted the younger nun. It was difficult to say anything when Mary Eunice started talking. "She's sad because I took her magazine away."

"Oh," Mary Eunice said in understanding, and if Jude wasn't mistaken, she sounded relieved. "I knew you wouldn't hurt her. Pepper is such a nice girl."

"Sister Mary Eunice," Jude said just a bit louder than necessary. The younger nun fell silent. "I wanted to ask ya about the magazine." Mary Eunice blinked her big eyes with curiosity. "Do ya know the lady on the cover?"

"Why, of course!" Sister Mary Eunice answered with delight. "It's Elsa Mars, the television star. I thought everyone knew her. She's got the most wonderful singing voice, and I just love her accent!"

"Did ya tell Pepper?" Jude cut in again. "Did ya tell her her name?"

"No." Mary Eunice shook her head. "She knew her name. She said it even before she showed me the photo. It's the only thing that really makes her happy—seeing Miss Mars."

"Thank you, Sister," Jude said. "That's all I needed to hear."

To be continued...


	3. The TV Star: Part 1

Jude picked up the phone, thinking for the thousandth time if this was the right thing to do. And for the thousandth time she told herself it wouldn't harm anyone if she were to make a fool of herself. You couldn't see anyone blushing in embarrassment through the telephone.

She dialled the number on the piece of paper on her desk. She'd actually already memorized the number after having stared at it for so long, deciding whether to call or not. Someone picked up and a warm woman's voice spoke at the other end of the line. "Hello?"

"Hello," Jude replied, "I want to talk to Miss Elsa Mars."

"You are talking to her," the woman replied, and Jude could hear it in her voice that she was smiling.

"That's great," Jude said, forgetting what she'd planned to say if Miss Mars really picked up the telephone herself. "I'm Sister Jude, calling from Briarcliff Manor."

"Sister who?" From the way she rolled her "r"s, Jude could tell she was foreign.

"Sister Jude," the nun repeated calmly. "Briarcliff is a sanatorium for the mentally ill. I don't think ya've heard of us."

"Indeed, I have not."

"Well, the reason I'm disturbing ya, Miss Mars," Jude said, looking for the right words, "is that one of our patients seems quite obsessed with ya. She hardly communicates at all, but the one thing that makes her happy is seeing yar picture on the cover of "Life" magazine. Now, we don't know much about her past, so we thought it might be possible that she knew ya before she was committed here." Jude wasn't going to tell her how desperately she wanted to ask her about her legs and Dr. Arden.

"I don't know any mental patients," Miss Mars told the nun carefully. A hesitant question followed. "What is her name?"

"We call her Pepper," Jude replied. "That's what her sister called her when she committed her here." She thought she heard something shattering at the other end of the line. Silence followed. "Miss Mars? Are ya alright?" Jude asked with worry.

"Yes," Elsa Mars breathed shakily. "I'm fine. Tell me, how can I reach you, huh? Where is your sanatorium? I will come and take my Pepper home mit me."

-

Three days had passed and it was still all Jude could think about. She hadn't been listening at all when she'd had dinner with the Monsignor last night. He'd even touched her hand to get her attention, but even so Jude couldn't focus on his words. She couldn't sleep last night, anxiously waiting for the television star's arrival and also fighting the images of bloody chainsaws that invaded her mind.

She stashed the film tape back inside her dresser and returned to her office. The next moment Sister Mary Eunice burst in, an excited smile on her face. "Sister Jude!" she started happily.

"What did I tell ya about knocking, Sister?" Jude replied with a smile of her own.

"I'm sorry, Sister," Mary Eunice hurriedly said, her excitement never leaving her. "But Elsa Mars is here! The TV star we talked about! Do you remember? What could she possibly want from Briarcliff? You don't think she's come to make some kind of TV show or something here?"

"No, she hasn't," Jude cut in. "It's a different matter completely. Would ya show her in?"

"Oh, no, Sister," Mary Eunice replied. "She wanted to see the local doctor, so I told Frank to take her to Dr. Arden."

"No," Jude breathed in fright. "No, go and find them, and bring Miss Mars here," she ordered, regaining her calm quickly.

"But why, Sister? What will I tell her?" the younger nun asked. She was ready to do anything Jude asked her to, and even her lack of self-confidence was endearing in a way.

"Tell them what I told ya," Jude replied, walking behind her desk. "She must not see Dr. Arden. I am the Administrator of Briarcliff Manor, and I want to see her."

To be continued...


	4. The TV Star: Part 2

Sister Jude sat down at her desk and waited. Minutes felt like hours. She wondered what she was going to say to the big television star whose friend they held captive, and whose legs had been sawn off by their physician. At the knock on the door, Jude straightened up and called out, "Come in!"

The woman that entered was blindingly beautiful. The navy blue silk dress hugged her figure and a matching hat graced her shiny golden locks. She wore little make-up but she looked ravishing all the same. Jude surprised herself again by noticing so many familiar lines in their features. But then her eyes travelled down to the woman's legs and she found herself thinking that she'd imagined the snuff movie. Just like everything else about her, the star's legs were beautiful. Her hand was clutching a big odd bag with a curious logo.

"Sister Jude, I presume?" Elsa Mars asked, closing the door behind her.

"Ya presume correctly," Jude found her voice quickly. "Won't ya sit down, Miss Mars?" she offered, gesturing towards the chair on the opposite side of the desk form her. The woman came forward and Jude found herself watching her legs until she crossed them, sitting down.

"I like to be called Elsa," the star said in her melodious voice. She was looking at the nun very closely now. "Mein Gott, you look exactly like me."

"I had noticed," Jude replied. "But the difference in our attire will help people tell us apart."

Elsa chuckled in amusement. "You have good humour in you, that's good," she stated, taking a golden cigarette case from her bag. "May I?"

"Sure," Jude answered, pushing the ashtray on the desk closer to her. She watched as Elsa lit her cigarette and blew out the first puff of smoke.

"Und now," she said, her expression turning professional. "I want to see my Pepper. She does not belong here. I want to take her away from this place as soon as possible. I mean no offence." She spoke calmly, but the seriousness in her tone indicated she was a leader and not one to turn down. Jude thought they had more in common that just their looks.

"None taken," Jude assured her. "Ya can take Pepper with ya tomorrow. That's how long it'll take me to get the release papers, they have to be approved by our physician before I can give her into yar care." She watched as Elsa blew another cloud of smoke.

"I understand," Elsa said and put out her cigarette on the ashtray. "You know, when I found her at the orphanage, they didn't even bother mit any papers. They were afraid I'd change my mind, you see. But I never did. I never regretted it for a moment, taking her mit me I mean."

"Pepper is a good girl, there's no doubt about it," Jude admitted, silently admiring Elsa for taking on the responsibility to care for someone like Pepper.

"Yes, she is," Elsa muttered, a smile on her face. "Can I see her?"

-

"She doesn't know ya're here," Jude told her as she led Elsa into the common room. "Don't mind the other patients." She was about to start looking for the pinhead but Elsa had already spotted her. Pepper was sitting in a chair in a corner, curled into a ball, her face hidden from view. Sister Jude retained a reasonable distance while Elsa walked forward.

It was a touching scene, Jude had to admit. The TV star bent down and touched the pinhead's shoulder gently. "Pepper," she whispered softly. Slowly the pinhead raised her head, a disbelieving expression on her face. Elsa smiled so lovingly, and the next moment Pepper had already thrown her hands around her in an overjoyed embrace. "Oh, meine Liebchen," Elsa chuckled happily, and even from afar Jude could see the tears streaming down her face. "I will never leave you again. Never. Never..."

To be continued...


	5. They Said I Was One of the Lucky Ones

Elsa Mars put out her cigarette and stashed Pepper's release papers into her large bag. "Thank you, Sister," she said, uncrossing her legs.

"There's just one more thing," the nun told her before she could stand up. Elsa sat back, squinting her eyes in an attempt to guess what the other woman was getting at.

"Und what's that?"

"Can I ask ya," Jude hesitated, "about yar legs?"

Jude saw the change in Elsa's eyes, their look turned serious. But Elsa was a star—she could act. "What about my legs?" she asked in a most innocent tone.

"I know," Jude stated, but noticing no change in the star's expression, she had to push on. "I know ya don't have any. They must be prosthetics." There was a long moment of silence, Elsa stared at her with an unchanging expression. In the end Jude believed she had finally messed up. Of course she had. How could this beautiful, graceful woman be a cripple? Jude felt like a fool.

After what seemed like forever to Jude, Elsa finally spoke. "How did you know? Even my Pepper doesn't know." Now it was Jude's time to stare at the woman opposite of her. Elsa's smile faltered and Jude was shocked to see such deep pain in her eyes.

"I... I saw a movie," Jude admitted and watched as Elsa's eyes widened.

"I didn't think there was a copy left," she said quietly. "I thought they'd all been destroyed in the war." Elsa averted her gaze and shuddered. "Where did you see it?"

Jude glanced towards her bedroom door. "Right there in my bedroom. I found the tape, God knows I shouldn't have been sneaking around and prying, but..."

"Where did you find it?"

But Jude ignored her question. She had to be sure first. "Elsa, do ya know who did this to ya?" she asked carefully, wary of pushing too far and hurting this tortured woman in front of her.

"They're all dead," Elsa replied plainly. Jude felt like she'd just been slapped across the face. "All but one—their leader." The nun's hopes were restored. But the confession made her curious.

"Ya didn't... take yar revenge on them, did ya?" she asked cautiously.

"No!" Elsa was quick to reassure her. "No, not me. But someone who loved me did." She sniffed and blinked her eyes rapidly. "But what do you care about it, huh? Why are you asking me these questions?"

And Jude thought she might as well say it. "Because we have a common enemy," she confided, and watched as confusion settled into Elsa's eyes. "Do ya know what he called the movie? What he wrote on the label? "The Lucky One"." Jude could see Elsa was frightened. It was obvious. Not even a lifetime of pleasures and fame could erase the memories. Even Jude thought she could never forget what she had seen.

"Yes," Elsa breathed in a shaky voice. "He told me I was one of the lucky ones." She raised a shaky hand to her face. "His hands..." she muttered, her voice breaking.

"His hands are quite the same now as they were then," Jude cut in, taking a napkin from a drawer and offering it to Elsa. "Unfortunately. And he's laid them on too many of our patients already."

Elsa looked up at her with teary eyes and said in a whisper, "He's here?"

"Yes, but not for long. If we work together, we can get rid of him once and for all." Elsa's eager nodding was all Sister Jude needed to know she'd found a new ally.

-

Gently pushing Pepper down to sit on the sofa in the motel room, Elsa gave her girl a light kiss on the forehead and prepared to leave. But Pepper's hand stopped her, grabbing Elsa's own and holding on tight. Elsa looked back at the pinhead and felt her heart shatter at the desperate fear she saw in Pepper's eyes. Quickly, she returned to Pepper's side, crouching before her, and taking her face in her hands.

"Now, Liebchen," she said, caressing Pepper's cheek with her thumb. "Don't you worry. I will be back soon. I will not leave you this time. I promise." And she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

To be continued...


	6. Gods and Monsters

Sister Jude smirked in amusement, watching Elsa. The TV star walked the aisle with slow, almost wary steps, her face turned heavenward as she admired the chandelier and the high ceiling. When she finally reached Jude next to the altar, she turned her awestruck eyes towards her and whispered, "I can't remember the last time I was in a church."

"Welcome to my world," Jude replied, and turned to lead the way. She knew Elsa was following her by the sound of her clicking high heels. "So ya are a singer?" she inquired casually.

"I am an artist," Elsa replied in a proud tone. "I do a lot of things—I sing, I act, I dance and throw knives. And these are just a few of my talents."

"I used to be a singer," Jude said, opening a large oak door and gesturing for Elsa to enter. "It didn't work out very well." The two women came to a halt at another door. "Ya might want to prepare those knives for Dr. Arden, though."

-

"Yes, Jude, but I didn't quite understand what you meant by everything you told me on the telephone yesterday," Mother Claudia told Jude as she studied the other woman's fancy attire and odd bag. Then she looked from one woman to the other and wondered if Jude had a sister she'd never told her about.

"I'm telling ya, that man is a monster," Jude repeated her accusation as calmly as she could. "He was one as a Nazi in Germany, and he is one as a physician at Briarcliff. The change of name didn't change who he is."

"The change of name?" Mother Claudia asked in confusion, calmly looking up at the younger nun who was trying her best not to get worked up.

"Yes, Mother," Jude said. "He was no Dr. Arthur Arden before the war. He was..." But her voice trailed off as she tried to recall the right name.

"Hans Grüper," Elsa offered, and Mother Claudia finally understood why she'd had a feeling the glamorous woman was foreign. From the way she'd spat the name out, Mother Claudia realized how much the woman must have hated the Briarcliff physician.

"But do you have any proof?" she asked, knowing that the police would simply laugh at them if they'd only have their word to give against Arden's.

Sister Jude let out a long and tired breath. "I literally have living proof," she replied and nodded towards Elsa.

The latter nodded back and put her bag on the chair next to Mother Claudia's desk. "If you don't mind?" she asked with a cunning smile, and propped her left leg up on the chair. Mother Claudia sent Sister Jude an alarmed look, but the younger nun was watching the scene calmly.

Elsa lifted the hem of her dress and rolled down her stocking, revealing a beautifully carved wooden leg.

-

Two days later, Sister Mary Eunice met the two older women in the foyer of Briarcliff Manor, an interested look on her young face. "Sister Jude? What is going on?" she asked, passing a police officer on her way to stand next to the older nun. "What's the police doing here? Is it a new patient?"

"No," Sister Jude replied, turning her head to look at the younger woman. She stood with her arms crossed and a serious expression on her face. "Ya don't have to know the details, but we're going to have to find ourselves a new physician."

"Why? What did Dr. Arden do?" Mary Eunice searched Sister Jude's face for an answer, but the nun's expression didn't give anything away—only that she had finally won her little war against the doctor.

"Trust me, Liebchen," Elsa spoke, her voice a warm melody, "you don't want to know."

Sister Mary Eunice stared at the TV star for a long moment, and then looked back at the older nun. "You two look exactly alike!" she said in excitement, all thoughts of Dr. Arden gone from her mind. Elsa smiled, and Jude chuckled.

"Thank ya for noticing," the latter replied, but before she could say anything else, the doors on the other side of the room were thrown open.

Jude and Elsa wore matching devilish smirks as they watched two policemen practically drag the tall physician across the room. They held his arms behind his back, and Jude thought this was the first time she'd seen the man lose his calm. He was struggling against the officers fiercely, trying to tell them to let him go. "Get your hands off me, I tell you! What are you accusing me of? I haven't done anything! I have patients to see to!"

"Ya will never see to another patient in your life," Jude promised him, and the doctor finally looked up at the group of women standing next to the front doors, and spotted the nun. His eyes were ablaze with rage.

"It was you!" he shouted. "You did this! You, you snake of a woman!"

Jude chuckled at his raging, knowing she had won and relishing the feeling. "I don't intend to take all the credit."

Recognizing the right moment, Elsa walked forward, taking her time with slow steps and showing off her masterpieces of legs. A smirk on her face and a triumphant glint in her eyes, she stopped right in front of Dr. Arden, giving him a good chance to study her. She had changed over the years, naturally. She'd grown older and changed her hair colour. But she knew for a fact that her face was hard to forget.

She was satisfied to see Dr. Arden's eyes widen as he recognized her. "You!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "It can't be true. You were supposed to die." His tone betrayed his shock and his fear. Elsa knew enough about him to send him straight into the electric chair.

"Well, take a good look," Elsa replied, gesturing towards herself. "I'm more alive now than I ever was back then." In a sudden surge of courage, she leaned forward, and realized with delight that she was no longer afraid of the man that had tortured her thirty years ago. "But you still get to pay," she whispered and enjoyed the scare she saw in the man's eyes.

Elsa then turned on her heel and made her way back to the two nuns, completely aware that Dr. Arden couldn't turn his eyes from her perfect legs. The three women watched as the policemen took Dr. Arden away, the latter still staring at Elsa.

"Thank you for this, Sister," Elsa said when the police car finally disappeared from their view. As she turned to look at the nuns, Jude gave her a satisfied nod, and Sister Mary Eunice's clueless expression made the star laugh.

To be continued...


	7. Angelo Mio

Elsa pulled Pepper into her embrace as she settled next to her on the sofa. "Tomorrow, Liebchen, we go to Hollywood," she told her quietly, resting her head against Pepper's. "You are going to like it there. I have a big house and two dogs. And then there's Michael, my husband, but you don't have to worry about him. We've been fighting for years now, it won't be long until he leaves me for good. I can't wait for him to go."

As she caressed her precious girl's head with one hand, Elsa held a letter in her other. She read it over again and again, until she admitted to herself that she didn't know what else to say. She put the letter in an envelope, deciding to take it to the post office next morning. And then all she had to do was wait.

-

Massimo Dolcefino hadn't expected to get any letters. But the one he received made his heart race and his eyes smile.

There was a newspaper clipping in the envelope, with a title that read, "Dr. Arthur Arden, previously named Hans Grüper, died in electric chair yesterday." And then there was the letter, written in her ever so familiar hurried hand-writing.

Meine Liebe Massimo,

We have both been avenged. It is over.

Let us start again.

Come to me.

Love,

Elsa

-

She hadn't been sure he would come. She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry if he never did. The first week she'd been back in Hollywood, she'd spent forever, choosing her dress and make-up for every day and doing her hair up as elegantly as she could. She'd taken into sitting in the garden or pacing around the house, as she watched Pepper wander around her new home and play with her dogs.

She'd seen Michael off, knowing perfectly well where he was going instead of the business trip he'd been telling her about. Elsa had stopped feeling bad about it long ago. Too many people had hurt her in her life. She just wouldn't allow Michael to take away what little life she had left in her these days. She couldn't even bring herself to cheat back. Money and fame had forbidden her and Michael to go their separate ways. Elsa hoped they would soon, the promise of happiness so close now.

But as the days had passed, her optimism had slowly faded away, her glances to the front gates becoming infrequent and hopeless. Maybe this was payback for her not writing back to him when he'd sought her out after the war. After a fortnight Elsa had stopped dressing up for him. She had stopped waiting for him, looking for him at the gates. She had stopped believing he would ever come.

Standing in the doorway now, Elsa thought she'd faint before she could make her way to him. Feeling slightly light-headed, unsure if she was dreaming or not, she stepped over the veranda and onto the footpath. She walked slowly, determined not to fall over on her legs—the legs he'd given her. For a fleeting moment she remembered she must have looked a mess, but strangely she didn't care a whit. There was nothing to her this man hadn't seen before.

He hadn't changed his style of dressing, Elsa recognized the hat he now took off to give her a slight bow. He looked older, greyer. But his eyes were as kind and alive as ever. And he was beautiful. Elsa loved every inch of this man.

She approached him silently, feeling her eyes tearing up at the sight of him walking towards her as well. Elsa knew how odd she looked when she was crying and smiling at the same time. But he was doing exactly the same, and the happiness in those kind teary eyes encouraged Elsa to close the space between them and cast herself into his waiting arms.

"Angelo mio," Massimo whispered to her, holding her close. Elsa let out what was meant to be a chuckle, but what came out as a sob instead. She had thought she knew every gentle touch and delicate feeling he could bring her, but she was wrong. Elsa had never felt like this before—completely happy to be held by the love of her life, anxious to let go and look him in the eyes, frightened of what might happen next, optimistic, warm, safe, restless, loved.

"What took you so long?" Elsa whispered back, inhaling his familiar scent.

"I had to finish my work," Massimo told her calmly. "I didn't think you would lose your faith in me so quickly." Elsa moved slightly in his arms to be able to look up at him. For a moment she hesitated. She thought she just couldn't bear it if she were not to find the reflection of her own feelings in his eyes. But realizing the silliness of her fear, Elsa looked.

"I am ashamed I ever did," she said quietly, bringing up a hand to caress Massimo's cheek. And as ever her feelings were multiplied tenfold in his eyes. And the future was bright for them.

The End


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